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Flare Path
by Terence Rattigan
This was to have been our January show but was cancelled due to Covid
Bette and Joan
by Anton Burge
Directed by Scott James
Main House
Friday 14th January to Saturday 22th January (not Sunday 16th January)
Bette Davies and Joan Crawford were in danger of becoming has-beens. Then an opportunity came along: to appear together in a new movie – ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’. Was their violent hatred of each other as rival sisters in the movie just an act? This play, recalling the story of these duelling divas, is poignant, tragic and deliciously hilarious.
The Wind in the
Willows
by Alan Bennett adapted from the book by Kenneth Grahame
Directed by Jessica-Ann Jenner
Main House
Friday 11th February to Saturday 19th February (not Sunday 13th February)
A National Theatre hit in 1990, Grahame’s much-loved woodland characters combine with the drollness of Bennett. Join Mole, Ratty and Badger as they try to control the high-spirited and madcap escapades of Toad. Given a modern twist this promises to be a quirky production breathing fresh life into a classic tale.
Taken at Midnight
By Mark Hayhurst
Directed by Pauline Armour
Main House
Friday 11th March to Saturday 19th March (not Sunday 13th March)
This gripping new play about the Nazi regime premiered to great acclaim at Chichester during 2014 before transferring to the West End. Set in 1930’s Germany where the celebrated young lawyer Hans Litten disappears into the Nazi system and his indomitable mother Irmgard confronts his captors at enormous personal risk as she fights to secure his release.
Hobson’s Choice
By Stanley Houghton
Directed by Colleen Batson
Main House
Monday 11th April to Saturday 16th April (Covid affected usual performance dates)
A well loved classic comedy last seen at BLT in 1988. Written in 1915 – a comedy from the cobbles of Lancashire. Take one bombastic shop owner, a ‘plain’ daughter, a long suffering boot-maker, a couple more flighty daughters and their suitors – a recipe for a very unlikely love story as newfound fortitude deals a resolution that is Hobson’s Choice.
Shakespeare in Love
Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
Directed by Pauline Armour
Main House
Friday 6th May to Saturday 14th May (not Sunday 8th May)
Theatre is flourishing again after the plague. Promising young playwright Will Shakespeare is tormented by writer’s block until he finds his muse in the form of passionate noblewoman, Viola de Lesseps. Their forbidden love draws many others, including Queen Elizabeth, into the drama and inspires Will to write ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the greatest love story of all time.
The Prisoner of
Second Avenue
By Neil Simon
Directed by Andy Solts
Main House
Friday 3rd June to Saturday 11th June (not Sunday 5th June)
Mel Edison has definitely had better days. The summer heat is unbearable, the air-con is on the blink, the neighbours are driving him crazy, his high-stress job is about to vanish and the television news is getting weirder by the second. Luckily Edna, his loving and supportive wife, is a beacon of hope and sanity. But not for long…
A Walk in the Woods
By Lee Blessing
Directed by Nikki Packham
In the Bar
Wednesday 15th June to Sunday 19th June
Set in pleasant woods on the outskirts of Geneva in the late 1980’s two arms limitation negotiators, one Russian and one American, take a stroll. Away from the glare of the negotiating table they develop a relationship even though their personalities are very different. An intriguing and thought-provoking drama as relevant today as it was in 1988.
Breaking the Code
By Hugh Whitemore
Directed by Tony Jenner
Main House
Friday 1st July to Saturday 9th July (not Sunday 3rd July)
Last performed at BLT in 1991, this compassionate play is the story of Alan Turing, mathematician and father of computer science. Turing ‘broke the code’ in two ways: he cracked the German Enigma code during World War II and also shattered the English code of sexual discretion with his homosexuality. A compelling piece of modern theatre that has certainly stood the test of time.
Three Sisters
By Anton Chekhov
Directed by Pauline Armour and Jessica-Ann Jenner
Main House
PLEASE NOTE.
Because of COVID, this production will now be a private event for family and friends of the cast on Friday 15th July only
Our Youth Group presentation is ‘Three sisters’. Three thousand miles from home. Overworked Olga, wild Masha and idealistic Irina dream of returning to London. Living in a world of deceit and frustrated dreams. Re-interpreted from the Chekhov masterpiece, Anya Reiss has realised a thrilling story for the 21st century.
Beautiful Thing
By Jonathan Harvey
Directed by Scott James
Main House
Friday 16th September to Saturday 24th September (not Sunday 18th September)
Harvey’s play about two teenage boys falling in love refuses melodramatic clichés to offer a story bright with sensitivity, pathos and wit. Ste hides from his father’s anger at Jaime’s place. Since there’s nowhere else to sleep, Ste and Jaime top-and-tail in Jaime’s bed which begins a tentative, awkward relationship which unfolds with delicacy and with joy.
Oleanna
by David Mamet
Directed by Stevie Hughes
In the Bar
Wednesday 28th September to Sunday 2nd October
John is a university professor about to take up permanent tenure at a prestigious university. Carol is a student of John’s – a brittle undergraduate drowning beneath the weight of her studies and personal insecurities. Harassment may, or may not, have taken place and they try to resolve the situation without the benefit of counsel or, at times, common sense.
The Herd
By Rory Kinnear
Directed by Michael Darbon
Main House
Friday 14th October to Saturday 22nd October (not Sunday 16th October)
It’s Andy Griffith’s 21st birthday. Not that he’s counting. But his mother, Carol, is. Counting the minutes until he arrives, counting the unexpected guests, counting the times that something like this has happened before. All that and three generations too. A witty and heartfelt look at family life when it doesn’t turn out quite the way you imagined.
The Girl on the Train
By Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff, adapted for the stage from the novel by Paula Hawkins
Directed by Paul Ackroyd
Main House
Friday 11th November – Saturday 19th November (not Sunday 13th November)
Rachel invents stories about the lives of the characters that she sees from the window of her train and, in particular, she fixates on one couple living in a house along the line. One day, however, she realises that the girl in the house has disappeared. A police investigation into the disappearance results in Rachel herself ending up as a possible suspect……
Girl in the Machine
By Stef Smith
Directed by Rob Widdicombe
In the Bar
Wednesday 23rd November to Sunday 27th November
Successful and wildly in love, Polly and Owen seem to have it all. But when a mysterious new and promising technology creeps into everyone’s phones, their world is turned upside down. As the line between physical and digital rapidly dissipates, Polly and Owen are forced to question whether their definitions of reality and freedom are the same.
The Body of an
American
By Dan O’Brien
Directed by Matt Platt
In the Bar
Please note that this play has been postponed until further notice
Inspired by the experiences of war photographer Paul Watson this story of hauntings is brilliantly crafted and played to great acclaim in London in 2014. Dramatic, chilling and deeply moving a strong piece of contemporary theatre. This is a dense, knotty and complex play that covers a wide range of dramatic themes and delivers a docu-drama, livewire experience.
Nigel Slater’s Toast
By Henry Filloux-Bennett
Directed by Roxana Graves
Main House
Friday 9th December to Saturday 17th December (not Sunday 11th December)
‘Toast’ vividly recreates Nigel Slater’s childhood from making the perfect sherry trifle, through the playground politics of sweets, the rigid rules of restaurant dining, and a domestic war over cakes, this is a moving and evocative tale of love, loss and ……food. Perfect for Christmas, heart-warming, fun theatre plus some yummy treats!!!